Graham: Afghan unrest 'not a total picture'

3/4/12 9:47 AM EST

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) defended the presence of American troops in Afghanistan on Sunday, despite calls from Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich and other conservatives to bring the troops home.

He said that the killing of six U.S. soldiers in the wake of protests after the Quran was inadvertently burned in Afghanistan is “not total picture of what is going on.”

“We have made progress and we do have strong allies within Afghanistan so don’t let this snapshot ruin the strategic importance,” said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “If we leave and it falls back in to Taliban hands and al Qaeda reemerges, we’ll pay a heavy price.”

“History will not judge us by the day we left," he added, "but by what we left behind.”